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Preliminary hearing started for doctor charged with eight counts of murder

A former doctor on trial in Oklahoma County District Court on eight murder charges was the state’s No. 1 prescriber of powerful prescription medications, a federal investigator testified Wednesday at the man’s preliminary hearing.

William Martin Valuck, center, a former doctor charged with eight counts of murder and 57 drug counts, is escorted Wednesday by Oklahoma County sheriff’s deputies to his preliminary hearing at the Oklahoma County Courthouse. Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The OklahomanPAUL B. SOUTHERLAND - PAUL B. SOUTHERLAND

William Martin Valuck, 71, is charged with eight counts of first-degree murder and 57 counts of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance.

Prosecutors allege that the former osteopathic physician and surgeon prescribed excessive amounts of painkillers, anxiety drugs and muscle relaxers, which led to the fatal drug overdoses of eight of his patients.

Valuck’s preliminary hearing featured testimony from two witnesses Wednesday. The hearing is scheduled to resume on June 17.

The day’s first witness, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigator Mary Surovec, testified that vehicles full of patients would arrive at the cash-only clinic operated by Valuck.

Surovec said the agency began looking into the activities of Valuck in February 2012 while he was working at the Vista Clinic, 3700 S Western Ave.

Most of his patients received combined prescriptions for the painkiller hydrocodone, the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam, and the muscle relaxer carisoprodol, Surovec testified.

By November or December of that year, the agency received reports of one or two of Valuck’s patients dying, she testified.

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Matt Dinger was born and raised in Oklahoma City. He has worked in OPUBCO's News and Information Center since 2006, and has been assigned to the breaking news desk since its formation in fall 2008. He specializes in crime and police reporting.